This time, VAR did not need replays or the human eye. In the 12th minute of stoppage time, Josko Gvardiol buried what seemed to be the equalizer for Croatia against Portugal at the 2026 World Cup. The joy lasted seconds.
The referee disallowed the play after reviewing a graphic that looks like it came out of a hospital: an electrocardiogram that recorded a header by Igor Matanovic, so slight that no player felt it.
That is why Mario Pasalic was offside. All of this was detected by a sensor chip inside the ball, capable of sending 500 data points per second to VAR.
FIFA came out to defend the decision with a forceful statement, but in Croatia the outrage was total: Luka Modric said goodbye to the World Cup like this, because of a centimeter that only a machine could see.